BU Beats UT in OT: Baylor Bears Battle Back, Defeat Texas Longhorns

The 12-year drought is finally over.

Battling past terrible calls, a Longhorn crowd and Texas’ team, the Baylor Bears defeated UT 80-77 in overtime on Saturday afternoon in Austin.

Garnering Baylor’s first win against Texas at the Erwin Center since 1998, the Bears faced adversity like champions as coach Scott Drew and his green and gold squad walked off that hardwood as winners over the Longhorns.

“It’s tough to win here, and we understand what a great team they are,” Drew told Baylor’s official athletic site. “I am very fortunate. As a coach, you get into coaching to coach teams in games like this.

"Today we really saw the heart of our players. Tweety Carter was amazing. Us coaches put the ball in players’ hands and expect them to make us look good and today he sure did.”

With BU leaders LaceDarius Dunn and Ekpe Udoh both fouling out in the extra period of play, Baylor went full steam with their backs against the wall and came up with a much-needed and huge win for Drew’s team.

“Coach says it’s always a game of running,” Carter said. “We know that it’s a great Texas team, number six, they aren’t going to let us just blow them out. They came out and they got on us. In the second half they cut the lead down and the turnovers, but when you win you still think about those turnovers, but when you get a big win like this, you kind of let it go a little bit.”

Leading the way in double-digit scoring for the Bears on Saturday afternoon were Carter (27 PTS, 6 REB, 2 AST), A.J. Walton (14 PTS, 6 STL, 4 REB) and Dunn (12 PTS, 5 REB, 2 STL).

“This was a great win for us, but it doesn’t stop here,” Carter said. “We’ve got to stay focused and we can compete with anybody on any given day. We just have to come out and play like we played tonight.”

Walton backed his teammate’s view on where to go from here, stressing the importance of picking up a big win in the highly competitive Big 12 Conference.

“I was nervous at first, but like Tweety [Carter] said, we talk everyday about the game progressing and just calming down and have fun,” Walton said. “Don’t listen to anybody, just have fun, so I just went out there and gave it my all and did what I needed to do for the team.”

It was Walton (a 47-percent free throw shooter) that sealed the deal for the Bears as BU closed out the biggest game of the season thus far.

“There was only one thing I was thinking, the Lord knows what I want,” Walton said. “So, I just stepped to the line, cleared it out and just knocked out the free throws.”

Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at [e-mail]